Rice University
Arkansas-Little Rock
Women's Hoops Rebounds with Win over UALR
11/20/2007 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Nov. 20, 2007
HOUSTON - Valeriya Berezhynska scored 18 second half points to lift the Rice women's basketball team to a 49-39 victory over Arkansas-Little Rock Tuesday evening in its home opener at Reliant Arena.
The Owls (5-1) improved to 3-0 in home openers under head coach Greg Williams and defeated UALR (2-2) after the Trojans defeated Rice 54-46 last season one year ago to the day in Little Rock.
Berezhynska was limited to three minutes of action in the first half after picking up two quick fouls. The Ukraine native rebounded to play 17 minutes in the second stanza, going 5-for-9 from the floor and 8-of-10 at the foul line.
Morgan Mayse and Maudess Fulton added nine points apiece, while Tara Watts chipped in five points and eight rebounds. Shyrelle Horne matched her career-best with four assists in her first career start.
After a pair of Kim Sitzmann free throws put UALR ahead 29-28 with 10:24 remaining in the second half, Rice took control of the game on a 15-5 run over the next 8:12.
Morgan Mayse hit a three-pointer off the glass to give the Owls the lead before Berezhynska poured in 12 consecutive points to give Rice a 43-34 edge.
The Trojans made one last run and cut the Rice advantage down to 43-39 with 55 seconds left before Fulton drove to the basket and hit a driving lay-up on the next possession. Berezhynska and Watts each knocked down a pair of free throws in the final 23 seconds to secure the 49-39 win.
Nikya Hughes paced UALR with 10 points and eight rebounds.
Rice heads to the Coors Classic on the Colorado campus. The Owls face off with Clemson and former coach Cristy McKinney Friday in the opening round. Tip-off is slated for 6pm CT. KTRU 91.7 FM and RiceOwls.com will have all of the action live from Boulder.
